Internetworking and providing reliable content delivery between heterogeneous networks is limited due to numerous challenges. In terms of data networking, for example, executive government branches typically utilize a hodge-podge of heterogeneous communication systems and networks for various military service branches. This resultantly occurs as each military service branch may have unique operational requirements and different timelines for communication system and network modernization efforts. For example, the U.S. Navy relies on long-range satellite communication links, whereas the U.S. Army utilizes shorter-range vehicle-to-vehicle communication systems and the U.S. Air Force mainly utilizes tactical data link networks such as Link 16. Generally, a specialized radio device may be embedded in a procured military vehicle such as a fighter jet or an armored vehicle, but in most cases, these communication devices either do not communicate with one another or communicate by inflexible (e.g., non-standard or non-scalable) means.
Limited solutions exist for enabling compatibility between tactical networks. In certain cases, a human-in-the-loop may be involved to relay information gathered from one network to another. However, solutions involving a human-in-the-loop may be unreliable and error-prone. In other cases, a proprietary middleware may be developed to facilitate the tasks of information translation and forwarding. For example, there is an emerging solution for providing tactical network interoperability using Internet Protocol (IP) standards. In particular, the U.S. Air Force and Navy have recently funded developmental efforts to enable their tactical network architectures to be IP compatible, and thus guarantee interoperability among them. However, existing proprietary solutions such as these may not be applicable to multiple networks as a solution designed for two specific networks may be unsuitable for implementation between another two networks.
In terms of reliable content delivery, conventional methods rely on source-to-destination address sets as unique identifiers for reliable information delivery, exchange, and retrieval. For example, when transmitting electronic mail (e-mail), a sender must enter an accurate e-mail account address of the recipient. Otherwise, errors in the recipient address may lead to delivery of the e-mail to an unintended recipient, and/or the message may be undeliverable due to the selected address name being invalid. In this example, the targeted e-mail recipient is the information destination and accurate knowledge of the respective address is critical to the success of information delivery. In another example, information content from a particular website may be accessed and retrieved by entering a corresponding IP address or Universal Resource Locator (URL) identifier within a Web browser. A website address error may lead to an inability to retrieve desired information. In this example, the targeted website is the information source and accurate knowledge of its address to critical to the success of information retrieval from this site. However, network address translation and/or compatible address resolution protocol for source-to-destination content delivery across heterogeneous networks may be limited or non-existent in many instances.
Therefore, it may be desirable to have a system and method that addresses at least some of these issues, and improves upon existing practices.